Words, Words, Words

Bekah Medford
Engl 1101
Dr. Hughes
Blog 4
“Words, Words, Words”
As time changes, we change, along with everything around us. Technology advances. New Fashions replace the fads before them. New words are created. Older words pick up new meanings. To comparing two popular dictionaries, The OED and The Urban Dictionary, models just how much the words we use change over time.
Dating back to c1325, the word “gay” was used as an adjective to describe someone as noble; beautiful; excellent, fine. This is the first definition of “gay” found in the OED. Though it is not the world’s oldest dictionary, it has a broad span of words with their popular meanings from both the past and present. When I looked up the word “gay” in the Urban Dictionary, I found two dissimilar definitions. The Urban Dictionary is like a collection of modern day American slang. People add in what he or she believes the word to mean. According to the Urban Dictionary “gay” is now a term for a homosexual male or female; or something stupid or unfortunate. The last definition of the two is in almost direct contrast to the original meaning found in the OED. The term seems to have more of a negative connotation when used in the present.
The two dictionaries seem very different but are truly alike. Both dictionaries are presenting people with definitions behind words. Both have definitions that many people believe to be correct whether it be the original meaning or the current slang. The OED searches for the most popular and correct meaning from both the past and the future while the Urban Dictionary has the definitions of words according to what humans view right now. The Urban dictionary is definitely descriptive. The OED is a mixture of prescriptive and descriptive. Though most may see it as just prescriptive, there was a point where prescriptive was descriptive. When giving the words the original meaning, descriptive was used to help form the definition. The OED is more accurate because people cannot add what he chooses vat anytime. The OED is put together with consideration and thought. Though contrasting in their content, both dictionaries have the same purpose: to present words and their many meanings.